A protrusion under the Adam's apple

We all know that a man's Adam's apple is the second symbol of a man. Many men are called sissy because their Adam's apple is small and not obvious and their voice is thin. In fact, this is very impolite. Some men feel inferior because of their small Adam's apple. Some men often like to touch their Adam's apple and find that there is a bulge under their Adam's apple. What's going on?

Adam's apple

The Adam's apple is one of the male sexual characteristics. After puberty, men's Adam's apple will generally protrude forward to varying degrees due to the effect of androgens. The human throat is composed of 11 pieces of cartilage as a support, the most important and largest of which is called the thyroid cartilage. The laryngeal cartilage begins to develop when the fetus is 2 months old, and continues to grow every year until 5 to 6 years after birth. However, the growth of laryngeal cartilage basically stops from 5 to 6 years old to puberty. Therefore, the thyroid cartilage of boys and girls is the same. After entering puberty, the secretion of androgen increases, which causes the Adam's apple to appear in boys.

The Adam's apple is considered a secondary sexual characteristic of men. The development of the larynx is related to age and gender. Before puberty, the development of the larynx of men and women is not much different. However, during puberty, the female larynx still does not increase significantly, while the male larynx increases rapidly under the action of androgens. The thyroid cartilage in the neck protrudes forward, increasing the anterior-posterior diameter of the larynx by nearly one-fold, and the voice becomes a deep masculine tone. This is the physiological process of Adam's apple development.

Before puberty, there is no obvious difference in the pronunciation of male and female voices, that is, the voices of boys and girls are very similar. After puberty, the anterior-posterior diameter of the male larynx becomes larger and produces a deep male voice, while the anterior-posterior diameter of the female larynx becomes smaller and produces a sharp female voice. Just like some musical instruments, the sound from a smaller diameter tube is shriller, while the sound from a larger diameter tube is deep. The principle is the same.

Some adult males have no obvious Adam's apple, some of whom are very strong track and field athletes, gymnastics athletes, etc. They have well-developed muscles and normal male sexual characteristics. Among these men with unclear Adam's apples, the vast majority are married, have normal fertility, and have no other abnormal manifestations. Endocrine examinations also show no abnormalities.

Adam's apple is loading Adam's apple

Some have been engaged in high-intensity physical training since before puberty, and some have a history of frequent masturbation when they just started to develop. Such situations account for a large proportion of the respondents. Some scholars believe that this may lead to a large consumption of androgens during puberty, which makes the thyroid cartilage fail to protrude forward fully, so that the Adam's apple is not so obvious from the outside. Although the protrusion is not sufficient, the anterior-posterior diameter of the larynx is still larger than before puberty, so the voice is still masculine. However, for some people, their Adam's apple is not so obvious because they have a thick neck, are obese, or their thyroid cartilage does not protrude forward as typically but expands equally in all directions.

The prominence of the Adam's apple is not necessarily related to the development of the testicles and penis. Although some men do not have a prominent Adam's apple, their testicles and penis are quite well developed. Nowadays, some medical books and periodicals no longer use the prominence of the Adam's apple as a criterion for judging whether the development of male secondary sexual characteristics is normal. Some anatomy books even no longer mention the anatomical term Adam's apple. Of course, only those patients whose Adam's apple is not obvious or underdeveloped, accompanied by underdeveloped internal and external genitalia and shrill voices need treatment.